Posted
by
samzenpuson Thursday August 20, 2009 @04:50PM
from the change-you-can-spend dept.

Knowing that a bad economy is immune to sneak attacks, a group of ex-rogues are creeping around London tourist sites and slipping money into peoples pockets. The "Putpockets" were hired by a broadband company and will be stalking tourist spots until the end of the month. Unsuspecting tourist can find anything from 5 pound to 20 pound notes slipped into pockets or unguarded handbags. "It feels good to give something back for a change -- and Britons certainly need it in the current economic climate. Every time I put money back in someone's pocket, I feel less guilty about the fact I spent many years taking it out," said Chris Fitch, a former pickpocket.

It is a violation of personal space, but I guess since the UK has cameras everywhere and herd mentality of enforcing their social contract then it is not surprising to see them to use tricks like this to re-enforce the whole Nanny state/Big Brother mentality.

If they were stealing the wallet, placing money in it and returning it I would imagine that it could still be considered theft. It sounds like they don't go that far, but I'm still surprised that any company is willing to risk the possible PR backlash or legal problems that could be spurred by something like this.
-You are still invading that person's personal space, and lately the courts haven't been very forgiving of those who grope strangers.
-Inevitably one of the employees planting money will get caug

Note that it says they're not taking wallets- they're putting the money in to unguarded pockets/purses. And really, what are you going to do? "Officer, this man tried to put money in my pocket!!" You'd be laughed out of the police station.
That said, it's incredibly easy to do without being noticed. Much easier than pickpocketing, which requires you to remove something- they're much more likely to notice the weight difference of a missing wallet than that of a new Â£20 bill.